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If you had asked me just a short 53 days ago what I will be doing in 2 months the answer would have been simple…I would be working at “Pret A Manager” as Shop Team leader with a possibility of training to become Assistant Floor Manager. The answer would have probably been the same if you had asked me what I’ll be doing in a year.

I’ve lived in Chicago for 1 year. I came to work in theater, which is what I started doing. I got a day job at Pret and then I worked in theater at night and on the weekends. I worked 2 gigs back to back as soon as I came to Chicago and then I had this sort of crisis where I needed to take a break from theater. I was ok with it at the time…I was only going to do that for a few months. But then Pret happened. I’m not really sure how, but it sucked me in. I got stuck. They were offering me raises and promotions (which ended up not being such a great experience but that’s not what this post is about). I kept saying to myself, “I’ll see how this goes” and I kind of forgot why I came to Chicago. I was turning down gigs and as time went on I became more depressed about it, but as I said, I felt stuck and didn’t really know what to do about it.

Then, out of nowhere, just 52 days ago, I get an email asking me to apply for the production stage manager position at the Taproot Theatre Company in Seattle, Washington. WHAT?!!! I researched the job and the theater. This was a full time, salary plus benefits job. Again I say WHAT???!!!!!! I didn’t even think those existed in the non-union world. In fact, this is one of the very few non-union theater companies that has this kind of job. I never in a million years thought I would ever have a salary job. CRAZY!!! Two weeks later they fly me out for an interview (which with the time difference and the plane flights, I was up for a total of 23 hours that day…it was a long and tiring day) and I loved it there. And then…just two days later…they offered me the job. One more time I have to say WHAT??!!!!!!!!! I couldn’t believe it. I found the job I was always hoping to get. I think it’s a rare thing when your passion and your career are the same thing…and I can’t believe that I was given this opportunity.

The job started in exactly one month. I had ONE MONTH to uproot my whole life…again…to a strange new city where I know practically no one. Although I was kind of freaking out about how fast this came along…I had never been more excited for anything in my life. It reminded me of the feeling I had when I was finally accepted into grad school. I feel so blessed to have had these amazing opportunities just find me.

I packed up a truck and drove across the country (a three and a half day trip). I LOVED IT! On a side note…Montana may be one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

I have now been in Seattle for a grand total of 48 hours. I started my job yesterday. I can’t believe I’m here.

Alright…I know I don’t have to write a whole post about how ridiculous and creepy Beauty pageants for children are. I hate that show “Toddler’s and Tiaras”. I’ve only ever seen one episode and I’ve never been more disgusted in my life.

However, when I saw the video below I laughed my head off. Hopefully it will let the rest of the world see just how ridiculous this whole beauty pageant thing is.

I went into New York and Company today and saw this dress on one of the Mannequin’s that I absolutely loved. Here’s a picture of it:

I decided to try on the dress. I found my size and the dress fit. But here’s the thing about dressing rooms…they force you to look into a mirror. And what always happens when you look into that mirror?? IT NEVER LOOKS LIKE IT DID ON THE MANNEQUIN! As always it makes me depressed. Not because the dress doesn’t fit like I wanted it to…but because I was hoping to have the body of a giant doll.

What is the point of the mannequin after all? I suppose to give you some idea of what the outfit will look like on a body instead of hanger. The problem is that it’s NOT A REAL BODY. I wish that they would just completely get rid of mannequin’s and have real human workers wear the outfits.

The funny end of this story is when I went to put the dress back I saw the mannequin again. I looked at the back of it and this is what I saw:

So apparently to make the dress fit perfectly you have to where the ever stylish binder clip in the back :). Somehow this made my whole day better.

Once upon a time I went to parties and stayed up all night and watched the sun rise and smoked cigarettes and drank cocktails. Once upon a time I wore vintage dresses and high heels and people told me I looked really beautiful and fashionable. Once upon a time I wore foundation and lipstick and eyeliner and blush. Once upon a time I’d go to clubs and dance until my feet hurt and flirt with guys who bought me drinks and offered me rides home.

Once upon a time I religiously restricted my calories. Once upon a time I worked out compulsively at the gym, running on the treadmill for multiple hours until someone kicked me off. Once upon a time I bought magazines like Women’s Health and Prevention so that I could read up on their fad diets and summer workout…

The problem I have with many things that deal with preventing and fighting sexually assualt/rape is that is always puts the responsibility on the women to find ways not let herself get raped. We are given lists of things not to do so as to protect our selves.

I loves these 2 photos because it buts the responsibility back to the rapist/assaulter. Let’s remember that it is their fault and NOT the woman’s!

Roughly 10 years ago…when I was a junior in high school I was working as a nurses assistant in a nursing home. For someone of that age, I was actually able to make and save a good amount of money. Now…my family and I had lived in our new home for about a year and the one thing I absolutely hated about it was that we had no dish washer. At that point in my life there was nothing I hated more than doing dishes. I had become an expert at coming up with every excuse for not doing the dishes (my brother can vouch for this as I’m pretty sure he had to do more dishes than me :)).

My parents had always said that they would get a dish washer as soon as they had the money. However, mom’s priority was in buying a dining room table (which we also did not have). So I understood it would be a LONG time before we got a dish washer if they were going to save up for a table first. I might be in college by the time they could afford it and by then I would have little use for the dish washer. So…I had a talk with my parents about me paying for a dish washer. They said it would take about $350.

So I began saving my money and in about a month or 2 I gave my parents $350 to specifically by a dish washer. Let me explain that there was no confusion…they were suppose to use the money to buy a dish washer!!! However, one day there was a beautiful new dinning room table in the dinning room and no dish washer. I asked my mother about it and she reluctantly said they used the money to buy the table instead.

Well to say the least, I was angry. I have held this over my mother’s head for the last 10 years. Now they of course have more than made up for this instance by helping me out a lot in my life…but I still have always held a little grudge.

Today I started eating my meal in my bed as I always do. At that moment I wished I had a table to sit at. I love my new apartment but all I keep thinking is how I have no dinning room table. It’s the only thing missing. The remarkable thing is that I also have no dish washer and I could care less. All I want is a table. If I had the money I would buy a table before a dish washer any day.

So I’m writing this to say I forgive you mom. I’m finally in a position where I completely understand why you did what you did. I would do anything to have a table…even steal $350 from my daughter :).

So I found this blog post today at The Society Pages Blog. I highly recommend reading this. It’s one of the funniest things I’ve read in a long time. To some up the blog…men will always be children. They can’t even aim correctly in the urinal unless their is a game involved.

Also, in the comment section of the blog a reader posted this you tube video. It’s hysterical. I can’t get over the fact that people try to make going to the bathroom a game cause it’s the only way to keep the placing from smelling like…well…a boy’s bathroom. TO FUNNY!!!

So anyone knows me well enough, knows that I am a huge fan of Josh Groban. I have been a fan since I saw him on “Ally McBeal” several years ago. This is a totally random post, but I was feeling in the mood for Josh Groban music today (although I guess everyday is like that)…and so I was listening to several of his songs today. I found this video on Youtube today and I thought I’d post it here. This has always been one of my favorite Josh Groban songs. It always makes me feel good. It’s a really wonderful song with a very important message. Enjoy!

I took the day off from job hunting today and decided to go and visit used book stores in Chicago. In this search, I found my new favorite place! It’s called “Ravenswood Used Books” and it’s unlike any other book store I have every seen. You walk in and you see nothing but books. Seriously. You have to walk in crammed between these two book shelves. The cashier is on left behind the shelf. If the guy hadn’t of been standing there, there would have been no way for me to know where to purchase books. I then just started walking around…or rather squeezing my way through the store. They have put so many bookshelves into a very small space. Only one person can be between bookshelves comfortably (and some of the areas are uncomfortable for one person). Now these books are “kind of” categorized by genres, but I it was pretty clear that that is not always maintained. Books are just everywhere (on the shelves, on the floor, on top of books on the shelves). This is not the kind of store you go to if you are looking for a specific book or even a specific genre. You only go here if you absolutely love books and love looking through random piles of books. This is the kind of store where you will find treasures that you can never find anywhere else. I unfortunately couldn’t stay for a very long time, but I am definitely going to go back and just stay for hours to see what I can find. It is un-real the amount of books that are in that store.

I don’t know if these pictures can really do the store justice of what it’s actually like to be in there, but I had to take some.

I know it’s silly, but I also shot of video of me trying to walk around. This can give you a little glimpse of what it’s like to walk through this place.

If you live in Chicago or are visiting, you should definitely check this place out. I assure you, you will find no other place like this on. It located at: 4626 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625. Go now! You won’t regret it.